166 SUPER-ORGANIC EVOLUTION 



The dog offers another clear proof of the same 

 problem. 



Take the following apropos of moral conditions : 

 Lord Oxford had some greyhounds that would have 

 been excellent had they possessed the necessary 

 energy and staying power ; and to give them these 

 qualities it occurred to their owner to cross them 

 with the bulldog. The result of this crossing was 

 that at the seventh generation the greyhounds re- 

 covered their lost form, and besides gained the 

 pertinacity of the bulldog. 



On this point Victor Meunier says as follows : 

 " Thus pertinacity is given to a breed of dogs, as to 

 a breed of sheep fine silky wool, or as a breed of 

 cattle is deprived of its horns. An animal can be 

 shorn of its moral qualities as a plant of its 

 essential principles. The former, as the latter, are 

 obtained in a pure state, by isolation, separation 

 from the mass of matter in which they are. Eeal 

 extracts are obtained : extract of energy, extract 

 of perseverance ; the desired effect is furnished and 

 obtained. Has science produced anything more 

 wonderful ? 



"I do not wonder so much at the fact as the 

 future that it promises." l 



I take these cases of artificial selection as 

 demonstrating how man might attain self-selection, 



1 Selection et perfectionnement animal. 



